The cost of getting rid of the remaining pheasants at the Reynolds Game Farm near Ithaca, the state's sole pheasant rearing facility, has been estimated at $50,000, according to Jeffrey Gordon, a spokesman from the state budget office.

A DEC press release last weekend announced closure of Reynolds as part of Gov. David Paterson's proposed budget for next year, an action that will result in savings of $750,000. Those savings include the cost of processing the 9,000 leftover birds, Gordon said Friday.

That cost includes transporting, processing, packaging and labeling the meat at two different, unnamed businesses, he said.

Pheasant hunters and others are concerned that closure of the farm will seriously jeopardize the future of pheasant hunting in this state.